Naruto Gaia's Child
by Invader Phoebe
Summary: During Naruto's summoning training somethings goes wrong and he ends up in a mysterious place, watch as how, armed with the blessings of Gaia, the whole history will be rewritten Druid!Naruto Super-powerful!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hi everyone! Invader Phoebe here, I'm sorry for the long time without updating but I've got a few issues between final exams in school and my PC breaking (I'm writing this in my bro's PC until my uncle get me his old computer) anyway it took me a while to actually write anything and I wont be making promises about updating anytime soon, anyway I made this Story as a little side-project a while ago and it was sitting forgotten in my USB so I touched it up a little bit and decided to release it to prove I'm still alive, if I'm going to go full story on this or not is still debatable meanwhile here's the first Chapter, oh and by the way im going to try and re write the next chapters of Deity's and Guardian's path so expect them to come just not too soon

Summary: During Naruto's summoning training somethings goes wrong and he ends up in a mysterious place, watch as how, armed with the blessings of Gaia, the whole history will be rewritten Druid!Naruto Super-powerful!Naruto

Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Not even my own PC (T^T)

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"Come on gaki it's just a little longer" A tall man with very long and spiky white hair dressed in an odd red long vest over an olive green shirt kimono and matching pants he had an odd headband with little horns that had the kanji for "Oil" engraved on it

"Hai Ero-sennin" came the cheerful response from a boy with spiky blond hair, blue eyes and a strange orange/blue jumpsuit

"Don't call me that gaki!" The old man yelled irritated befor adopting a smug look "you should be proud you're being taught by the great Toad Sage of Mt. Myokuban Jiraiya of the Deensetsu no Sennin" he claimed while in a Kabuki pose

The boy just ignored his remark "Whatever you say _Ero-sennin_" he said before looking arriving at the very top of the mountain, looking around he discovered a bottomless ravine and almost no vegetation around them "is this the place where you were gonna help me summon Ero-sennin?"

"I_nsolent brat_" Jiraiya mumbled a bit "Yes this is the place Naruto, You're gonna have to listen to me in everything I tell you to ok?" the Gama-sennin said to the boy who nodded in response "Good now I want you to use the power of the fox" he said wisely

Naruto nodded for a bit before realizing what the man had said "What! You want me to use _it's_ power are you nuts! I'm not getting anywhere near that, that _foul, wretched_ power of _his! _the last time I used _it's_ power I lost control of myself and I felt terrible you want me to do that _again_?"

Jiraiya sighed "Look brat lets be frank you're a Jinchuuriki, you're supposed to wield _it's_ power so the fox wont be using it on _everything_ else like konoha, believe me brat if it were me I would tell you to never use it and to lock it in the deepest corner of your being so it never sees the light of the day again, but let's face it you're going to be in tough battles that's the life of a jinchuuriki and to be perfectly frank you're _too_ _weak!_ You need _it's_ power" he yelled at the blond

"So that's it.. I'm nothing but a human sacrifice? Very well I _refuse_ to be one! I'll use my own power to overcome obstacles I wont use that damned chakra but my own I'll only use that which I gained myself and not that beast's power I _refuse_ to be associated with it from now on!" Naruto yelled

Jiraiya sighed "I was hoping not to resort to this but you leave me no choice" he said before pushing Naruto off the cliff much to the blond's shock "You'll have to use it's Chakra to summon if you wanna live this out Brat! I believe in you" he yelled as Naruto fell to the dark depth of the ravine

In the ravine:

Naruto was desperate, he wanted to live but he was dead set into not using Kyuubi's Chakra he instead tried to do a Kuchiose no jutsu at his highest pure chakra capacity without using the fox's chakra, but due to its purification the chakra while potent was very limited

Naruto managed to summon his biggest toad yet but it was barely bigger than a human "What in the? What's going on!" the grey toad said "why the hell was I summoned falling!" he claimed before looking at his summoner

"Sorry I tried to summon the biggest Toad I could with my Chakra but I only managed to summon you!" yelled Naruto

"Sorry to not be of help syoukanshi-san(1) but only a Toad the size of Gamabunta or Gamaken could help you in this situation please forgive me!" The toad said before dispelling himself

Naruto began sweating and looking around frantically he head then an Idea, he took out a kunai and some ninja wire and he made an anchor of sorts which he threw at a tree root on the wall and tried to grab it to stop falling

"Aaaarrrrghhh!" Naruto yelled in pain as the force of the pull not only dislocated his arm but he also hit the side of the rock wall like a sack of potatoes he screamed in pain for a while before unconsciousness took him and his body fell into the unknown depths of the ravine

Outside Ravine:

"Come on Naruto, don't be stubborn an use it" Jiraiya was getting worried "Please gaki don't die out of stubbornness" he pleaded to no one

After a while of waiting in the edge he realized it was already getting dark "Kami... what have I done" he whispered as a single tear rolled of his cheek before he ran way from the scene towards konoha to deliver the news of the _decease_ of the hokage's golden boy '_I'm sorry Minato...Kushina..._'

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"Ughhhh wha- what hit me?" Naruto groggily woke up "Arghhhh uh? Where the heck am I?" he yelped in pain as he realized his dislocated shoulder however the shoulder pain woke him up and realized he was in a very dark place

Naruto looked up and saw a hole in the roof on which the night sky was visible, on closer inspection he realized the "roof" was a false floor made out of dried roots, leafs and trash accumulated over the years obviously it had cushioned his fall "Kami that was close" he whispered at seeing the actual height of the ravine "It's nothing short of a miracle I survived.. now where am I?"he said figuring he had nothing better to do until his arm healed to try to climb the rock walls he decided to take a peek at his whereabouts

Naruto looked around and squinted his eyes, he managed to see in the dark however slightly, he was in a cave of some sort it was slightly humid and deeper into the cave there was a green glow "Wait what? A glow? What the hell?" Naruto said shocked to see light coming from deep in the cave

Curiosity overtook him as he limped his way into the depths of the cave following the mysterious glow, as he turned a corner of the cave he discovered the source of the glow

There was a series of strange crystals imbedded into the roof and some scattered in the floor of the cave curious he neared on of the crystals on touched it, much to his surprise the crystal glowed brightly and he felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body before hearing a voice

"_follow me" _said the voice in a barely audible whisper but to Naruto it sounded like a bewitching command various crystals lit up following a path deep into the cave and Naruto was compelled to follow it

The cave he realized, was flooded inside with many large caverns with tiny lakes but he still followed the glowing crystal as he advanced he came across something that nearly made him jump out of his skin

They were small beautiful girls all long hared with pretty colored eyes and long pointy ears, they wore white robes which clung to their drenched skin making them look even more beautiful they had flowers and vines in their hair but they were all looking sad some were crying others weeping many were sadly combing their hair and at the sight Naruto couldn't help but feel a little sad

"_Korrigans, poor cursed maidens, leave them be, do not look at them with pity and they'll be harmless, keep going" _said the voice once again making Naruto unconsciously nod and ignore the sad creatures

As he advanced in the tunnels he came unto another small cavern wich held yet another odd creatures these looked like little balls of fuzzy hair with small feet and three fingered hands protruding from their roundness they were of many colors of fur but they all had big bright colored eyes overall they looked cute

"_Bauchans, little hobgoblins mischievous creatures that enjoy pranks ignore them, keep going" _The voice once again called and Naruto just nodded and kept going inspite the little balls of furr looking at him and some following him

Finally Naruto came to a point where while there were still crystals ahead they weren't glowing as brightly as before looking around he took notice of a straight rectangular piece of rock wall with an odd complex symbol it appeared to be made out of continuous twisted and curved lines that gave the outline of a tree and its roots mesmerized by it Naruto reached a hand and touched the "roots" of the tree only to reel his hand back in shock

Like the crystals the lines began glowing a green light but the cavern began to tremble a little scaring some of the Bauchans that followed Naruto, the wall then split in half and a wooden door was revealed it had another of those swirling line symbols only this time it seemed like three spirals connected at it's ends in a circle

Shrugging Naruto pushed the door open and entered the room which was illuminated by more crystals it was a small room, a wooden carved shelf that held some items of clothing and other stuff sat on the left side of the room, directly in front of Naruto was a chair and a table made of wood on the left of the table lying against the wall was a carved wooden staff that ended in one of those crystals and on top of the table laid a thick book which immediately called Naruto's attention

The book had a thick leather cover with more swirling lines engraved on it but a single figure was in the front of the book, the image was that of a beautiful woman with waving long hair, wearing robes that seemed made out of plants and flowers on her hair, trees were encasing her in a complex sphere made in the same pattern as the odd swirls

"_The book of Vortigern, your heritage, heed it's call" _Naruto once again heard the voice but this time he was too entranced by the odd book to listen to it

Compelled by a mysterious force Naruto took the book and opened it marveling at it's contents Symbols of all kinds were written in the yellowish pages with drawings and odd symbols once again but as Naruto took a good look at the first page he realized something he never though he'd be capable of...

He managed to read the words written there

Konoha:

Jiraiya had calmed down a bit he took a bit of thinking and then he realized it Naruto was still alive

He knew the boy was still breathing for several factors, the first one being that there was no rampaging gargantuan nine tailed demon fox stomping on konoha's buildings, the second reason what that he took a look at his name on the summoning scroll which was still red(2) the next reason was that the seal's key was still active as Gerotora still had it intact after relaxing a bit he decided to go back to the ravine to see if he could somehow get Naruto out of there

And the final reason was that he was still alive with his manhood intact

-Flashback-

"You did **WHAT**! are you out of your idiotic **MIND**?" yelled the third Hokage to the cowering form of Jiraiya who hid behind an Anbu which had passed out on the killing intent being released by the Hokage "How _dare_ you throw your godson down a Ravine!"

"I-I w-was tr-trying to g-g-get him to s-s-summon u-using the Kyuubi's Chakra I didn't realize he was as stubborn as to not use it in such a situation" the Densetsu no Sannin stuttered nervously

"Of course you _**didn't**_! if you had been taking care of your _**godson**_ the way you _**were**_ supposed to you would have known of his never-back-down attitude, you moronic excuse of a man, and what were you doing with him in the first place when Kakashi was supposed to prepare him for the Chunnin exams in a month!"

Jiraiya was still scared of his sensei but he still conjured up the courage to tell him how Hatake had blown off Naruto's training in favor of the Uchiha and how he took care of Naruto after meeting him in the hot springs along some stupid Jounin that was "training" the brat

"That _**son of a bitch! **_Preaching about teamwork when he himself abandons two of his students I'm going to demote him to Gennin after the exams" The third exclaimed with an aura showing why he was revered as the strongest Hokage ever "and _you_ you are not off the hook, luckily I can still sense that Naruto is alive and I cant spare anyone until after the Chunnin exams and the incoming invasion but you will pay, if Naruto comes back before or to the Chunnin exams consider your pelt safe for a while but if he doesn't, I'll remove your manhood and **BAN** your books from fire country **UNDERSTOOD**_**!**_"Yelled the Hokage provoking a quick nod from Jiraiya "and don't even try to escape or go get Naruto I'll need you here preparing for the invasion and I'll have you on such a short leash you wont even be able to _blink_ without my permission"

-flashback end-

Jiraiya knew he was screwed but at least he was still alive and he trusted Naruto would come back for the exams he really did trust him his manhood depended on that after all

Underground Cavern:

Naruto was simply fascinated the book spoke of ancient warriors that wielded the power of nature itself to aid them in battles which reminded him of the Shodaime Hokage, he read about the ancient religion and worshiping of the old gods, the real gods

As he neared the end of the first chapter he heard a voice behind him "_Naruto dear child I am glad you came at last_" he quickly turned around and gaped as he faced the very figure on the cover of the book

The woman was as pretty if not more so that depicted in the book her long waving brown hair was covered by white roses and wrapped in vines a white dress made of silk with Autumn leafs on her shoulders, arms, collar, waist and the end of her dress, her eyes were the brightest green he had seen and she glowed, she was followed by little birds and animals perched around her and her face held a kindness he had never seen in his life with exception of Sandaime-jiji "W-who are" Naruto stuttered

The woman lightly laughed which sounded like a choir of angels in Naruto's opinion "_I, Naruto, am Gaia, mother goddess of the earth and nature and one of the first gods, and you my child are here to claim your heritage as the descendant of the last Druid, King Vortigern_" the woman spoke with a heavenly perseverance on her voice

Naruto was aghast he had just met Gaia! The goddess of Nature mentioned in the book and she told him he was descendant of the protagonist of the book? "Wait you're really Gaia? As in Gaia Mother Nature, Goddess of Earth, Mother of the gods? That Gaia?" he asked

Gaia laughed lightly again "_Of course my child _" she said before becoming serious "_But I'm afraid we have things to discuss you see the world is in danger_" she said as Naruto widened his eyes "_A mortal man of great power is trying to become a god, normally this wouldn't affect us since it would be the delusions of a madman however this man has the means to become one and his ways are wicked and filled with blood, once he becomes a god he plans on subduing the whole humanity through illusions_"

Naruto was shocked to hear that, A madman claiming the title of god and enslaving all mankind? he wasn't going to allow that "B-But Gaia-sama why don't you and the other gods stop him?" he asked fearing about the man's intentions

"_You see Naruto that is the problem, this is still a man, and we are forbidden to directly act in the affairs of men, hat is why we used our champions the druids unfortunately the druids disappeared long ago before the time of the sage of the six paths even, long ago a man found this book and he managed with our help to use part of the book's knowledge to battle and defeat that wicked man, however he didn't managed to kill him as the evil one escaped and while weakened, he is still as powerful as ever thanks to his accursed eyes, the man who used the book was Harashima Senju the first Hokage and your distant cousin_" she said to the boy's shock

"_I'm... related to the Shodaime Hokage?_" Naruto asked with a soft whisper

"_Barely my child, you see your mother hailed form a clan that was distant relatives of the Senju both descendants of the sage of the six paths who himself is descendant or Vortigern, but that's beyond the point, You my child have the thickest druidic blood I've seen in ages and I was afraid you would have to face that man alone, but now you are here, now I can teach you the ways of the ancient Druids_**"**

"B-But Gaia-sama how can I a child, face a Man that not even the Shodaime managed to defeat" Naruto exclaimed worried

"_Naruto the reason you can read the book is because you are a descendant of the last great Druid blessed by all of the first gods, you can wield the powers of old even greater than those used by the Shodaime since he couldn't read more than a bit of the book, you can read it all but be aware Naruto that book only contains the way of the Nature and Druidic teachings of Nature, you will Need to find the other books hidden through the world that hold the knowledge of the other Druidic disciplines_" Gaia said while putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder "_Now my child put on those robes grab a hold of the staff and follow me we will have to shorten the time to learn to only a month if you wish to help save your homeland_"

Naruto nodded and took the staff by the table and the clothes that lay on the shelf he marveled at the soft material that the robes were made of and put them as he did he noticed a couple of tears in the fabric, he was about to tell Gaia when he felt something crawling up his robe when he looked down he noticed lots of little spiders that were repairing the damage in the fabric with their silk Naruto was slightly afraid of it but shook his head and continued following Gaia

Naruto followed the goddess through the tunnels that were now illuminated and they came unto a large cavern "_Here my child we shall begin your training into a druid but first we have things to do_"She said as she took a knife decorated by the same continuous lines "_This dagger will purify your blood and put you in harmony with Nature draw your blood with that dagger_" she said as she handed it to Naruto who gripped the blade

Naruto gulped and looked at the blade nervously but after the warm gaze of Gaia calmed him he gripped the handle and quickly slashed open his palm the blood flowed free from the wound for only a second before being absorbed by the blade, Naruto Marveled at how the Wound glowed green before closing leaving behind not even a mark, his attention quickly was diverted as the blade and handle of the dagger receded into the guard and the whole device splitting in half taking the form of two bronze discs with the same emblem that was engraved into the wooden door

"_Good my child from now on you are my herald, you speak for me and Nature will obey you as long as you respect it Now let us begin your training please assume a meditative position_" Gaia said as Naruto nodded and began his month long training

Konoha Chunnin exams stadium- 1 month later:

"People of Konoha! Honorable guests! We are gathered here to bare witness of the young shinobi talents of our villages and how they shall strive to advance in the ranks and become Chunnin in service of peace may the chunnin exams begin!" The sandaime hokage announced before sitting with the Kazekage to his right and with an invisible Jirayia on his left

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji please come down and take your places your match is about to begin!" came the voice of Shiranui Genma

Neji arrived at the stadium floor but there was no sign of Naruto scoffing at the loser's cowardice Neji petulantly spoke to Genma "Proctor obviously my oponent was too much of a coward to even appear just declare me winner already I was fated to win anyway"

Genma narrowed his eyes at the arrogant Hyuuga "I'm sorry Neji-san but I must give him 5 minutes before deciding what to do with your match"(3) he said before he got a pleasant chill up his spine getting him in calm "though I get the feeling those 5 minutes wont be necessary" he said when the ground shook and roots came out of the ground crating a small dome

When the roots receded into the ground two cloaked figures were standing there one was short the size of a child around Neji's age, the other was a tall wide figure even bigger than Jiraiya of the sannin and apparently much more muscular leafs swirled in the wind when the short figure spoke "Wulver please take a seat in the participants platform" came the voice of a boy

"Yes Naruto-sama" answered the taller figure in a rough masculine voice before the figures simply blurred from sight and appeared in the participant stands next to a startled shino and a shocked shikamaru

"Uzumaki Naruto reporting for the Chunnin exams sir" came the calm voice of the cloaked figure as he began fidgeting within his cloak

"So you came after all? I'm surprised, you should just forfeit right now and save both my time and your humiliation I am fated to win today" Neji haughtily replied

"The is no fate Neji-san, only choice we are the consequence of our actions and the actions of those that surround us as it stands right now in my eyes you are weak perhaps those precious eyes of yours are not as good as your clan claims" came the calm voice of Naruto

How dare he speak to him about fate! And to mock his eyes was blasphemy he would teach this loser how fate was absolute were the thoughts of a furious Neji who was about to start his bloodline

"Calm down Hyuuga wait for me to begin the match" came the response of Shinanui Genma as he felt Neji's intentions "as I was saying both participants are present and as such I declare the first match of the Chunnin exams active, Hajime!" the proctor said as he performed a quick shunshin and stepped to the side of the stadium

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A/N: Yes I know this is completely nuts, I am aware I'm using odd European folkloric creature with Greek gods and Celtic druids but the matter of fact is no one knows what the hell did druids actually worship and all Neo-Druids worship Gaia(Greek protogenoi) as mother earth and I always liked British folklore the Korrigan is a Breton creature while the Bauchans are Celtic ones, a third creature was mentioned (try and guess what is it cookie for the first to figure it out) anyway I made it all up so don't expect it to make cultural sense

(1) This Means Summoner I think I actually took it form final fantasy but I have no idea if it is correct

(2) The written name of a summoner is red while the summoner is still alive why the blood blackens once he/she dies(I made that up but it served its purpose)

(3) I figured he gave Sasuke 5 minutes to present his match before disqualifying him when he was told to postpone his match and at the actual match he gave another 5 minutes before Sasuke and Kakashi appeared


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Hi everyone! Invader Phoebe here! Here is Gaia's Child chapter 2, next on the update rooster is Deity's path so seeya then! Enjoy and please leave some nice reviews!

Summary: During Naruto's summoning training something goes wrong and he ends up in a mysterious place, watch as how, armed with the blessings of Gaia, the whole history will be rewritten Druid! Naruto Super-powerful! Naruto

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not even my own team of supervillanous lawyers that could help me take over Kishimoto's rights to Naruto

Neji quickly attained the Juuken stance as soon as the proctor said go and waited for his opponent to attack first which Naruto was clearly not doing

"What is the matter? Did you realize a dead last like you can't beat a prodigy like me? It is fate, it has decreed that you shall lose before me, I won't even need my Byakugan to beat you" he arrogantly said reminding Naruto of a certain Uchiha

"Is that so?" Naruto replied calmly

Neji growled a little before grabbing three kunai from his pouch and throwing them at Naruto in angles the would intercept him if he tried to dodge, however Naruto seemed undisturbed by the act

The kunai whistled in the air as they passed Naruto narrowly missing him and yet he hadn't moved an inch, Neji growled again and this time he threw the kunai at the unmoving figure directly

This time Naruto did move though only sidestepping so the kunai again flew past him he moved once again to dodge the following throws, calmly evading them while walking close to his opponent

Neji once again growled "You damn failure I'll show you not to trifle with a prodigy like me your fate is decided _**Byakugan!**_" Neji said activating his eyes decided to attack with the famed Juuken of the Hyuuga

"Is that so?" Naruto replied once again standing wide open before his opponent calm even when Neji took the Juuken stance

'What is going on? I can barely see him! It's like he's... transparent how is it even possible I barely notice his chakra' Neji thought before shrugging the thought away and attacking Naruto with some Juuken hits, Imagine his surprise as Naruto barely moved like if his attacks were only as effective as pokes Neji Jumped back fearing a counter attack that didn't come

"What is the meaning of this? By all means you should be writhing in pain on the floor by now I closed your Tenketsu and my chakra should have damaged your internal organs!" Neji shouted at Naruto

"Mmm? So that is what your strange Taijutsu was meant to do? Inject foreign Chakra to close the chakra flow and damage the opponent's internal organs, quite ingenious I must admit although I must be the worst person to try this on Neji-san since that has no effect on me"

"Impossible you must be cheating somehow that cloak! I bet is some kind of chakra blocking fabric I demand you take it off!" Neji shouted at Naruto who seemed to tilt his head

"Is that so? Very well as you wish Neji-san" Naruto answered before a hand appeared from within his cloak and undid the brooch that held it together the cloak fell to the ground and many who knew Naruto were shocked to see the way he looked

Naruto's physical appearance had changed like his wardrobe he was a bit taller and his hair grew a tad longer and slightly more tamed, his eyes were also different, the blue irises were surrounded by a glowing green circle

His clothes consisted on a long robe like shirt that ended in a flap in front of his legs like an apron white in color with some orange details in it like a vertical line in the middle of his chest that ended on the flap and the edges of his sleeves and the flap being made of a fluffy looking orange material his pants were white as well the legs also ended in the same fluffy orange material he had a pair of sandals on orange as well a leather belt in his waist and wore white fingerless gloves that seemed tattered a large orange tattered cape rested on his shoulders and on top of this a brown hooded shawl-like cloth on the left shoulder of this cloth was stitched a red spiral with two little sticks on its sides held together by a cord

He didn't seem to be wearing a tool pouch but instead a leather bag was tied to his waist, he held in his outfit was completed by his forehead protector hanging from his neck on an orange cloth

'His eyes... could he have a Kekkei genkai? I should be wary I need to see what he can do' Neji thought "you look different any reason for the change, failure?" he asked out loud

"Perhaps, I must say I feel more comfortable in such clothing so I felt it appropriate to change" Naruto answered completely calm

"Attack me looser I shall show you the power of the Hyuuga you cannot defy fate" Neji said getting in his stance

"Hmm how remarkably similar to something an Uchiha would say, nevertheless excuse me if I do begin attacking as you asked of me" Naruto said before extending his hand palm open towards Neji

His skill as a shinobi was the only thing that warned him to move and once he did he could hear the whistle of something passing him as if he had thrown shuriken or kunai though much more silent, curious Neji turned to see the offending projectiles only to gasp at what these were 'Leafs, sticks and stones? What the how did he..." His thoughts were interrupted as he dodged yet another batch of projectiles

Naruto shot forward wave after wave of these projectiles and when Neji was forced to jump to avoid them he aimed yet another much larger wave of projectiles at where Neji was going to land

With no time to avoid the attack or the ability to dodge in the air Neji turned to his ultimate defense and performed kaiten

Up in the stands Hyuuga Hiashi's eyes widened 'how did he learn the Kaiten at such a young age' "Look at him Hanabi this is the prodigy of the Hyuuga marvel at the Kaiten the ultimate defense" he said with authority although the girl in question was pondering on other thoughts

'_The kaiten does seem impressive but what is up with that guy? Why does he seem undisturbed by the jutsu and why is his chakra so... __clear... transparent even_' she wondered while looking at the boy with her own byakugan

"You spin in your place and release chakra from every tenketsu in your body to create an energy dome that disperses damage huh? Ingenious indeed, but ultimately if you know how to counter it, it becomes useless" Naruto said calmly as he seemingly placed a palm in the ground and closed his eyes, soon everyone was shocked as the chakra dome of Neji disappeared and Neji stood there sprawled on the floor with his legs tied with a vine "If I prevent you from spinning you can't create your little ball"

Many were shocked when a huge root covered in spikes raised Neji from the floor dangling him by his feet '_he has the mokuton!_' were the thoughts of many who were interrupted once Neji began screaming

From the root several little branches with leafs began growing and white roses began blooming "The roots are draining your Chakra fast Neji-san I suggest you give up"

"Neji gritted his teeth "Never! Fate has declared ME the winner!" he said while trying to cut the root holding him with a kunai

"I ask you once more Neji-san please surrender before I am forced to subdue you" Naruto said, his voice growing slightly impatient

"I… will… not!" he gritted out as he managed to free himself from the root and jumped at Naruto with a juuken stance, his kunai substituting his chakra attacks

Naruto effortlessly evaded Neji's desperate attacks and in a swift movement he placed his palm on top of Neji´s chest, fingers wide spread, Neji knew he was screwed when he noticed a greenish glow on Naruto´s palm

The next thing Neji knew was he was thrown at breakneck speeds towards a wall, leaving an imprint of his body on it, thanks to him being a ninja his chakra laced body was sturdy enough to survive the blow but not without a huge amount of pain

"Mmmm and yet you stand Neji, something you shouldn't be able to with such wounds, something drives you, yet I cannot tell what" Naruto said as he calmly walked towards Neji and picked him up from the collar of his shirt "would you mind answering before I change my mind and decide to fulfill my promise to Hinata-san?" he said calmly

"You understand nothing Uzumaki" Neji said gritting his teeth and removing Narutos grasp from his neck, after staggering bakwards a little he said "I have been dragged by the weight of the main family all my life, you cannot possibly understand what it means to be burdened look at this" he said while weakly removing the tie in his headband and revealing a green swastika like tattoo on his forehead "this is the curse mark of the branch family, this is the caged bird seal" Neji said while looking at the hyuuga head in the stalls with disdain and barely veiled hatred

"My father was the younger brother of Hyuuga Hiashi the current clan leader, and the reason for my hatred towards the main branch" Neji began his tale weakly as he stood up "it all started when Hinata was five..."

A/N:

Here it is fellas Now I had to cut the chapter short since im on vigilance due to the school and my low scores, I diiont think I´ll be able to write anything for a while at least until the end of this semester hope to seeya soon Invader Phoebe Logging out!


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey everyone Sorry for the delay but I've been extremely busy with college and all to the point where its unbearable, also I had problems writings Neji's sob story and decided to just ignore it , just pretend it was told between chapters ha ha anyway here ts is I hope you enjoy it, next update of my stories will be of a Guardians path for those that follow it too._

_Previously:_

_"My father was the younger brother of Hyuuga Hiashi the current clan leader, and the reason for my hatred towards the main branch" Neji began his tale weakly as he stood up "it all started when Hinata was five..."_

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Chapter 3:

"This…" Neji said as he undid the knot on his hitai-ate "is the mark of slavery that has been forced upon the branch family of the hyuuga" he said with venom in his voice "just by birth we are marked like animals, such is our fate and no one fights fate" he said tying back the hitai-ate "you might be stronger that I thought but I am a true genius and you are the dead-last of your generation, regardless of how much you progress fate has decided you to be the looser" he said renewing his fighting stance.

"So that is your motivation to continue standing up" Naruto said with disappointment in his voice "such a pathetic existence, surrendered to a fantasy concept and justifying his rage under a fictional banner… you are really naïve Hyuuga Neji, your father would be disappointed in you" Naruto said closing his eyes and shaking his head down in shame.

Neji reacted to that like dynamite near lava, with an explosive shout he launched himself towards Naruto who didn't do anything to stop him, Neji then began assaulting Naruto's body hitting tenketsu after tenketsu in a brutal display that held more force than grace unlike the style of a proper hyuuga.

After the Final palm strike Naruto was launched backwards and landed on his back, Neji took ragged breaths but believed to have finished the job, however much to his shock and any other byakugan users around, Naruto just stood back up while his tenketsu reopened once again releasing that clear chakra that was brilliant yet in harmony with his surroundings.

Strange lines appeared on Naruto's face while this was happening but he didn't open his eyes, once all the tenketsu were fixed his face returned to normal and he finally opened his eyes looking at Neji as one looks at an annoying child.

Naruto then made a half hand seal and a wooden clone of him popped out of the floor, the clone was only wearing pants and some mechanical looking armor on his arms, the clone then ran at Neji and hit him in the stomach sending him flying backwards.

Another clone popped up behind Neji and gave him an uppercut launching him 30 feet high into the air where the first clone jumped and appeared on top of Neji and with a hit with both arms Neji was sent crashing down on earth, leaving a small crater and spitting blood on impact.

Neji's breathing was ragged and he couldn't move as all his muscles were screaming in pain, Naruto walked next to him and he looked at his blue-green eyes.

"Neji your father believed the absolute opposite of what you are making it out to be" he said with seriousness in his voice that made Neji stop trying to move and lift an eyebrow "It's obvious to anyone else because they aren't blinded by the rage that consumes you, your uncle may have been the first born and thus main family unlike your father but they were still brothers, tell me Neji when your uncle activated the seal to punish your father for sending killer intent to Hinata, was he not crying?"

Neji thought back and while he was mostly focused on his father suffering he also remembers seeing tears coming from his uncle's eyes, how could he not notice that until now?

"Neji… your father loved his brother regardless of the enmity between main and branch families, I believe he wanted to take his brothers place to give fate a kick in the balls, I mean look at it this way, he would protect his beloved brother, he would save the Hyuuga family from being taken over by Kumo, and he would be deciding his own death, rejecting the hands of fate as described by your beliefs" Naruto spoke to him.

Neji then began remembering things he had forgotten, like the smiles and laughs his father shared with his uncle, the sad and apologetic his father looked after he realized what he wanted to do with Hinata, and most shocking of all his smiling face as he was taken by the main branch to be sacrificed, one particular memory hit him that he had forgotten about, a memory that he had of the last time he saw his father.

"_Remember Neji, be strong do not be swayed by the curse of fate" was the words of his smiling father as he scuffled his hair "become a strong Hyuuga member and protect the main family for we are all one big family" the big hand of his father was the last part of that memory that and the peaceful smile in his face._

Neji's eyes shot open as fast as lightning "yo-you're right… I forgot it, I forgot it all… My father wasn't forced to do it he forced the elders to take him instead of uncle Hiashi… then… what is it I've done with my life all these years, I struggled and became strong I hated the main family… for what?… I'm an idiot a lower than trash idiot, who almost destroyed what my father tried to protect his ideals and little Hinata..." Neji began to cry.

Naruto then looked at the clear blue sky "you know Neji you're not an idiot, but you were seduced by the curse of hatred an idiot is someone like me, you are a genius Neji, perhaps a dumb one but a genius nonetheless, fate is not something that defines us and it's set in stone as you made it out to be, the fate of all being is to die eventually and bring more life to the world but what we do between our birth and our death it's entirely our choice" he said and then he looked back at Neji.

"You know I was dealt a bad hand in life too Neji, but I never let it take me down, you know what was the reason for me to fail 3 times the passing exam of the academy? I sucked at the clone jutsu, and yet I beat you with two solid wood clones, I learned them and practiced them until my bones broke and muscles ripped yet I didn't stop practicing because I wanted to prove everyone's assumption of me was wrong, I'm not like you Neji, you're not an idiot or a dead-last, so stop acting like one and shove fate aside" Naruto said as he took Neji's hand.

Naruto slung Neji's arm over his shoulders and motioned to the Medic team to bring a stretcher for Neji "Even a caged bird was soar the skies again if he pecks at the lock long enough, if it's beak will break then it will kick it open and if its feet break then the bird will wait until it all heals and he can peck the lock again, persistent but in the end the lock will break and the bird shall be free" Naruto said as the referee declared him the winner and the stretcher came for Neji.

Naruto then began walking back to the contestants lounge leaving Neji to be attended by the medic nins, the referee came close to Neji as they watched Naruto go upstairs "He is right you know…" he said to Neji "Hiashi begged the Hokage to deny his brother's request but even the old Kage knew it was the only way to avoid war between Kumo and us, he was devastated and he said he couldn't bear to see his nephew in the face after he failed to protect his brother, I know what I'm talking about kid, I was an ANBU that day he crashed in the Hokages office" he said which earned him a weak smile from Neji "that kid over there has definitively earned my most sincere respect" he said with a smile.

Neji's smile didn't lessen ad he said "mine too… I look up to the future now and for the first time, I can only wonder what tomorrow will bring for fate has no hold in Uzumaki Naruto".

-public bleachers-

"Did Naruto just win…" came the voice of Haruno Sakura to which all her friends nodded dumb founded Ino was the first to react as she took out a 10,000 ryo bill and handed it to Kiba with a smile on her face only to turn to Sakura and ask "Nee Sakura, what it's Naruto's favorite food? Is he seeing anyone?" much to the shocked Sakura and Hinata, Tenten was a little red in the cheeks and while embarrassed she also wanted to ask the same as Ino.

Kiba looked at the bill and absent-minded said "Oh right the bet that Naruto would win… should have made it bigger and against everyone else in the official betting pool".

Iruka had both stars and tears in his eyes "Well done Naruto you make me proud, AND YOU JUST MADE ME RICH TOO HAHAHA" he said summoning his big head jutsu to laugh smugly and held the gambling ticked in his hands.

-Hyuuga's private box-

Hiashi stood up without a sound shaking the rest of the Hyuuga members out of their stupor, he looked at his youngest daughter for a bit as he spoke "It appears I have let things run out of their course, I must make amends I should have done long ago, Hanabi, I shall be going to your cousin's side, stay here" he said as he wordlessly exited the box.

Hanabi did pay attention to her father and was shocked that apparently what the blond teen below had said was true, but she was way more curious right now about he blond, after all, those jutsus he used and the clones were done in pale green chakra similar to what is used by medic nins however it seemed far more in tune with its surroundings, she wouldn't admit it out of Hyuuga pride but if the blond teen kept refining his chakra maybe not even the byakugan would be able to see it, he was quite dashing as well... in her own opinion.

-Kage's box-

The aged Hokage made a smile and joyful chuckle at his surrogate grandson, who apparently just had somehow obtained abilities similar to Hashirama Senju, nodding to himself at Naruto's speech and apparent level-headedness in battle he decided that Naruto would make a fine chunin and perhaps it was time he was told his true heritage.

Jiraya released a breath he held since he pushed Naruto down the ravine, sure he was irresponsible and lazy, but he did care about the blond brat, he was especially worried that Naruto hadn't come out of the chasm yet, or when he showed up in the exam that he hadnt prepared for fighting the Hyuuga, but all his concerns scattered like leaves on the wind after Naruto's battle.

Externally the fourth Kazekage was immutable, seemingly uncaring of the outcome of the battle, however inside the stoic disguise, Orochimaru had his thought in disarray, part of him excited at Naruto's apparent development of the Mokuton, thinking of several plans already to lure the blond child to his side, another part of him was seething that the brat had apparently become so strong so fast he may actually throw a wrench in his plans though he wasn't sure of that, another part was curious as to how had the blond replicated the abilities of the first Hokage, since he himself had failed numerous times to achieve such satisfactory result, the closest he had been to succeeding was with that child that supposedly survived the genetic splicing of the Shodaime, thought that was a shot in the dark itself and not a veritable scientific achievement, after all 24 other children perished and only one survived, but above all Orochimaru was cautious, one single mistake and both Jiraiya and Hiruzen would have his hide if he didn't catch them by surprise.

-Participant's platform-

Naruto had just reached the top of the stairs when he was greeted by his large hooded companion "Good match Naruto-sama, Gaia-sama is surely proud" the bulky form said with mirth in his voice.

Naruto sweat dropped a bit "Haha now now, Wulver I've told you several times to call me Naruto, the -sama is not needed my friend" he said patting the larger man in the shoulder.

"Haha no can do Naruto-sama its fun to make you react like that" the figure chuckled.

"Ahh so you DO do that on purpose! darn it Wulver" Naruto yelled getting red in the face.

The other competitors in the stands were looking at the idiot blond and wondered where did the cool headed strong guy went.

"Agh you stop looking at me with those eyes full of annoyance and pity you pineapple headed teme!" Naruto said pointing to Shikamaru who just sighed and muttered under his breath something that sounded like "troublesome blonds".

The following match was announced by the proctor and Naruto realized something "Eh? where is Emo-teme? his match is next isn't it?"

"He hasn't come yet, since you appeared on the arena you probably don't know but neither Sasuke nor that Dosu guy have arrived yet, honestly it's better for me if Dosu doesn't show up, I have one less annoying battle to fight" Shikamaru said 'not that I´m planning on winning the first one anyway, it's too bothersome' he added as a thought.

"Mmm I hope Kakashi sensei's habits haven't rubbed off on Sasuke, i actually want to fight him so I want the teme to be on time" Naruto said puffing his cheeks in indignation.

"Well I dont think there is something wrong with taking some traits from our sensei's, though taking thins as far as Lee is an exaggeration" said Shuikamaru.

"I guess but I seriously hope he doesn't start reading smut during our training sessions like Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said to the shock of his fellow genin.

Somewhere on the stands a black-haired red-eyed kunoichi sneezed and swore to kick Kakashi in the balls for some unknown reason.

Naruto turned his head slightly to look down as Gaara waited for Naruto's delayed teammate to arrive and confront him a certain anger present on him eye for what Naruto could see.

-Meanwhile in the infirmary-

Neji lied on his bed resting as he had regained consciousness, Naruto had said things to him that made him rethink his view on life and whether or not he had really been justified for his actions.

The door to the room opened and as Neji turned his head he was surprised to look that Hyuuga Hiashi was there on the door with a piece of paper on his hand.

"Hiashi-sama?" Neji said as said nothing came to mind as of why would the clan head be there unless he wanted to complain of his defeat, then again… Neji wasn't bothered by it, he had been beaten sure but he felt at peace.

"Neji" Hiashi said interrupting the thoughts of the downed Hyuuga "there is something I have to give you, something I should have given you a long time ago but my own cowardice prevented me to" Hiashi said as he handed Neji the piece of paper on his hand.

"What is this about Hiashi-sa" Neji began as he took the paper but he stopped as soon as he read the words of the paper it was a letter and it had the handwriting of his father.

Neji read the letter from beginning to end three times before it finally dawned on him, 'so _Naruto was right, father did choose to sacrifice himself_' he thought as he put the letter down to ask something to his uncle but was shocked when he saw the clan head bowing down to him with his forehead on the ground.

"Neji… I only pray for your forgiveness, it was my fault that my brother died, and all I've been doing so far is run away from my duties as your uncle and as a father, I am truly sorry for what I've done to you and Hinata, I hope Hanabi can still be rectified but I am truly sorry for what I've put you three through in my cowardice and attempts to escape reality" the once proud clan head of the Hyuuga said as he began sobbing finally taking in all that he had been doing since the death of both Hizashi and Hitomi.

At that moment Neji felt the same peace in his chest he felt after his defeat at Naruto's hands, ignoring the painful soreness of his wound he kneeled in front of his uncle and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Uncle please stand up, its unbecoming of the clan head to bow before a branch member" Neji said with a soft smile that reflected the peace in his eyes "I understand Uncle, I was also blinded by grief and refused to acknowledge my father's death being his choice, so I took it out on the main family... I also hope you can forgive this foolish nephew of yours" he said while dropping some tears himself.

And so uncle and nephew, driven away by the death of a loved one, regained peace of mind and a sense of family tanks to the intervention of a blonde Mokuton user with a way of words.

-Kage's Private Box-

The old man Sarutobi had an impatient look on his face and after 5 minutes had passed he narrowed his eyes and called a guard ANBU with a ferret like mask "Itachi... tell Genma that the Uchiha is disqualified I will not tolerate such lack of respect in my shinobi" he said with finality.

The "Kazekage" broke in a barely unnoticed cold sweat "Hokage-sama Surely you can be lenient this one time taking things into consideration, most daimyos and potential clients came here today because of the big names like the Uchiha and my son, taking him off the tournament would be detrimental to our cause, and besides i personally want to see my son engage in combat with the Uchiha I want to see how much he has grown as a shinobi" _'of course i mean sasuke tough just to see if hell be useful or I have to simply take his eyes and DNA sample.'_

"Regardless of that I cannot allow such behavior so even if I allow him to keep participating he shall be denied advancement to chunin until I deem him otherwise worthy do you have a problem with this as well?" The Old Hokage said with eyes narrowed.

Any other person would have broken a sweat under the old monkey summoner's gaze but Orochimaru was a very good actor "Expel him from the shinobi program for all I care Hokage-sama but do not deny my son and village this match" he said with as muh conviction as he could muster with a straight face.  
Sautobi looked at him and sighed "fine then... Itachi tell Genma to postpone the match to the final one before the 2nd round, and tell him to tell the uchiha once he shows up that he wont be advancing to chunin any time soon" he told the ANBU who nodded and left in a shunshin appearing next to genma to relay the message.

Orochimaru inwardly smiled, not only had he managed to buy time for his troops to prepare but he had also secured the Uchiha's battle against Gaara, _'now if only I could do something about the Kyuubi kid, Mokuton is one of my oldest obsessions and if he knows it can suppress the tailed beasts powers then the ichibi may not be the ace up my sleeve I needed it to be'_ he thought.

-Arena-

Gaara was getting impatient about the Uchiha's lateness, eventually an ANBU appeared and told something to the proctor, Gaara resisted the urge to kill this ANBU _'he's strong mother... but now is not the time' _he said while resisting Shukaku's whisperings of bloodshed.

Genma nodded and with a sigh he announced "The match between Sabaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke has been postponed to the last battle of the first round, we are sorry for the inconvenience, we shall continue with the match between Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Kankuro, contestants please enter the arena" he said while watching the competitors box expecting the contestants to come.

-Competitor's box-

"I'm gonna forfeit now I need to save my strength for the invasion later" whispered Kankuro to his sister unaware that something seemed to twitch under the stranger's hood a few meters behind them.

Temari nodded "I'm still going to compete just so we don't arouse suspicion" she whispered back and saw how Kakuro nodded and proceeded to the balcony to inform of his forfeit when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"_-bzzt_ -uro!, Kankuro! listen its me Baki" came the hidden earpiece under Kankuro's hood "do not forfeit, I repeat, do not forfeit the match, the mokuton's appearance has thrown a wrench in our plans, buy us time for planning by dragging out the match as much as possible, tell Temari to do the same, Baki out _-bzzt_" the message ended and Kankuro frowned.

"Well there goes the saving my energy" he whispered before he made a signal for temari to draw out her fight, Kankuro then took a turn and went downstairs followed by his aburame opponent.

As he left the box the large hooded figure leaned onto Naruto and whispered something in his ear that made Naruto nod and show little smirk on his face.

-Arena-

After descending the 2 flight of stairs Kankuro went to his side of the field and prepared himself he had already revealed he was a puppeteer so no reason to hide in his backpack instead he unwound the wrapped bundle in his back to reveal a puppet different to the one he had used during the preliminaries, Kankuro sighed before saying "I don't really particularly like using puppets of my own design I prefer working on improving those tat already exist, but I tought why not give this one a shot, best way to prove its usefulness is in battle after all" Kankuro said as he looked at his opponent "allow me to introduce you to Usubakagero"

The puppet itself was strange the upper side of its body looked human-like with a cloth covered torso and two arms that ended in vicious claws and its head featured dark brown spiky hard altough its face was more triangular shaped and had two pronged blades that resembled the mandibles of an ant, however the lower half was more similar to an insect with an oval shaped thorax and six thin legs that ended in metal plaques that resembled shovels, the whole puppet was smaller than Kankuro's previous puppet but it certainly didn't look less deadly.

Shino seemed unfazed by the vicious looking puppet but mentally he was interested in the insectoid looking puppet "_A beetle would have been a more aesthetic choice tough, however that seems biased considering my kikaichu_" he thought, before he got into his combat stance spreading his arms outwards and firmly planting his feet in the ground his inner colony buzzing in excitement of the coming feast.

"Both fighters ready?" came the voice of the proctor and after a nod from both competitors he lowered his arm "Hajime!" he yelled while jumping back to not interfere with the battle.

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_AN: So yeah I was delayed on this one but honestly I thought I had uploaded this like two weeks ago but it seems it didn't upload properly, anyway this chapter's off the hook now and the next story to be updated is gonna be Deity's path, I'm already halfway through chapter so I don't think I'll delay too much tough that fanfic gives me a headache from the many ways it can be ruined if I write Naruto too op anyway this wa Invader Phoebe Signing out!_


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